Livestock feed systems allow for large scale, simultaneous delivery of livestock feed from a central storage container to multiple animals, which may be housed in separate enclosures and buildings at a farm or other livestock management facility. Some systems use a chain disk conveyor to move feed along a feed path toward one or more outlets. Some feed paths are formed by a plurality of tubes and corner housings. A chain with a plurality of disks positioned generally perpendicularly thereon is placed within the feed path. As the chain and corresponding disks move through the tubes and corner housings, the disks on the chain push feed from the central storage container (or feed hopper) through the feed path. An advantage of chain disk conveyors is that they provide an enclosed system that can operate at various angles and various planes.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a feed system 100 including a plurality of chain disk corners 102. In particular, the feed system 100 includes one or more feed hoppers 104, tubing 106 (may also be referred to as a chain disk line, chain disk tubing, etc.), chain disk corners 102, and a plurality of feed drops 108 (may also be referred to as feed outlets). The feed hoppers 104 house feed (or other particulate) in bulk. The feed hoppers 104 may deliver feed by gravity to the tubing 106 at a bottom of the feed hopper 104. The tubing 106 and chain disk corners 102 form a feed path for delivering the feed from the feed hopper 104 to the various feed drops 108. However, corner housings 102 used in these chain disk conveyor systems suffer from a number of deficiencies.
Some corner housings 102 are entirely opaque, which prevents viewing the interior of the housing, such as to inspect any potential problems and/or confirm proper operation of the wheel within the housing. While some corner housings 102 may be entirely transparent, such corner housings 102 are typically prone to cracking and breaking, as the transparent material (e.g., transparent plastic material) tends to be weaker and less robust than the opaque materials (e.g., opaque plastic material), as transparent materials may be limited to certain resins. Further, some corner housings 102 are of a clamshell configuration, such that accessing the interior of the housing may be time consuming and difficult. For example, opening the corner housing 102 may require removing the corner housing 102 from the feed path to remove the top half of the housing from the bottom half of the housing. Often, the wheel assembly is mounted to the top half and/or bottom half of the housing, which may further complicate this process.
Some corner housings 102 include radially extending ribs on the exterior of the housing to provide structural support and rigidity to the housing. These ribs are typically on the exterior of the housing for ease of manufacturing (e.g., mold construction). However, external ribs may form pockets on the top half of the housing, which may collect dust, dirt, water, and/or other particulate. Such accumulation is generally undesirable and may even affect proper operation of the corner housing 102, such as by pooling next to the axle, seeping into the housing, and/or interfering with operation of the wheel.
The wheel assembly may be mounted at a seat within the housing. Load and operation of the wheel assembly within the housing may deflect and increase structural stress at the mounting point of the housing. This may lead to cracking, breaking, or other structural damage to the corner housing 102.
Some corner housings 102 include a self-cleaning wheel which may be configured to redirect any feed that has accumulated within the housing back into the feed path. However, some self-cleaning wheels include moving parts, operation of which may be negatively affected by accumulation of feed particulate within those moving parts. Some self-cleaning wheels may be orientation dependent, where the self-cleaning wheel has a designated top and bottom, and cannot function properly if positioned upside down. Further, some self-cleaning wheels may be directionally dependent, where the wheel cannot self-clean clockwise and counter-clockwise. Such limitations hinder installation, maintenance, and repair of corner housings.
No admission is made that any reference cited herein constitutes prior art. Applicant expressly reserves the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of any cited documents.